I have a 'glass 32 roadster and want to run it in D Engine Class, with my '56 Mercury 292 Y-block, TH400, 8.8 rear end. I plan on installing a bolt-in/removable cage (similar to that of the Rolling Bones crew XF/GR roadster). What are the main/BIG differences between the classes? It seems to me that D/STR requires headlights, rear fenders, etc. More of a street worthy car-in appeareance???

D/GR seems to be faster, at least the rulebook records indicate this, and the cars appear to be able to have more race-worthy mods. No rear fenders, no headlights, etc. What am I missing? I have to figure out which class I'm going to run in, before I start my build You guys have any advice for a noob?

Slepe 67,as you can tell by the records these are serious race cars in these classes. If you want to get your feet wet in a class using an antiquated engine with no real chance of challenging a record then this is the place for you. Bonneville is fun at any level, if for no other reason then an excuse to be there. Who knows, you could end up with the worlds fastest Y block. I would use a C4 as they suck up way less power then a th400.

Street Roadster is perhaps your best bet. Especially if you're gonna use a bolt-in cage. We've held the D and C records with a licensed (but not street-legal) roadster with such a set-up. It takes at least 4 guys and a lot of work to get it in and out -- but it would be a lot harder with more engine and driver set-back as in the Roadster class. Not to rain on your parade, but build it to have fun -- I believe a record is way out of range for the Y-block.

Stan Back

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Member of the San Berdoo Roadsters – California's most-exclusive roadster club.Celebrating 65th anniversary of racing on the salt.

I agree with everyone above. Street Roadster is a fun class to run in, and yes there are some very serious cars in this class. But don't let that stop you. Just do your thing and have fun. If you can build that Y-Block Ford to have an honest 300 HP your car should run in Street Roadster trim around 150-160 mph.

My car is down for a rebuild at this time. But when it last ran at El Mirage it ran 163mph. That was with a 350 Chevy for power, with a stock 2 bolt main block, cast crank, stock rods, 10-1 cast pistons, early corvette FI heads, 3/4 race hydraulic cam, Team G intake with a small 650 Holley. It was literally a bunch of stuff I threw together to go have fun with. I feel the secret to keeping this motor together was the 6000 RPM limit I had set in the MSD unit. It would go through the traps around 5700 RPM. Motor never did blow up it developed a pin hole water leak in a cylinder due to core shift in the block, and still ran 163 on its last pass with water coming out the exhaust.

Hope this helps. Main thing, have fun. To me the journey is the real fun in racing these cars.

Tom G.

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Asking questions is one's only way of getting answers. As a young boy I was always taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. It suggests that the quest for knowledge includes failure, and that just because one person may know less than others they should not be afraid to ask rather than pretend they already know. In many cases multiple people may not know but are too afraid to ask the "stupid question"; the one who asks the question may in fact be doing a service to those around them.

thanks for the kind words. No matter what happens, I am running this car at Bville and Maxton. I jsut want to say I did it. Then, I will save my next build for the full blown PSR vehicle. This car is going to be fun, next one will be deadly serious. I haven't been able to rod around in about 10 years, and I'm pining for some speed.

FWIW, I also need to see just how much HP the TH400 zaps out, as opposed to the C4, and why. Thanks JL